A Division of Cornerstone Family Healthcare
Got questions about the latest ways to reduce your risk for HIV, STDs and hepatitis C? So do lots of our followers. Members of our Education & Prevention Department went live on Facebook to answer them. In this video, we covered PrEP, PEP, how risky certain sexual behaviors are (or not), and how to reach our programs for more services!
Need free testing services? Contact us at (845) 704-7624 — you can call OR text! ? You can also email us to set up an appointment.
Join us for the Big Barbershop HIV Testing Extravaganza on Friday, November 30th in Mt. Vernon! To commemorate World AIDS Day, five barbershops are hosting HIV testing programs like HVCS’ Project ALERT, from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm. All Barbershops are located on Gramatan Avenue between Sydney St and Prospect St in Mount Vernon, NY.
The five participating barbershops are:
All Star Barber & Salon, located at 91 Gramatan Ave.
Barbershop & Salon 88, located at on 88 Gramatan Ave.
Junior V.I.P Barbershop, located at 81 Gramatan Ave.
Monegro, located at 80 Gramatan Ave.
#047 La VEGA Barbershop, located at 43 Gramatan Ave.
Rob, warehouse manager for Treo Brands, with J. Dewey, HVCS’ Director of Public Relations & Resource Enhancement
Treo, a relatively new beverage company, contacted HVCS with an amazing offer: they had over 180 cases of their product, in three different flavors, that needed a home. They had recently rebranded, streamlining their packaging, and needed to make room in the warehouse for the newly designed bottles. The beverages dressed in the old look, however, were still drinkable (and delicious). HVCS offered to distribute the cases of Treo on our mobile outreach vans, including Project Reach Out and our syringe exchange vans. A few weeks ago, we took the PRO van to the company’s warehouse in Port Chester and filled it with Treo!
Treo is an organic birch water (that’s right–sort of like maple syrup or coconut water) infused with fruit flavors. It’s also sweetened with stevia so it’s low-cal. The PRO and SEP teams have already begun handing out the product to clients. Most of these clients are unstably housed or have no home, and they appreciate any free food or beverages. Offering them a snack or bottle of Treo helps build trust and establish a rapport–and hopefully they’ll keep in touch with us for their healthcare and service needs. We are grateful to Treo Brands for thinking of HVCS’ programs and making this generous donation a reality!
As cold weather threatens, the job for HVCS’ Project Reach Out team gets tougher. Life is also tougher for PRO’s clients, who are mostly unstably housed or homeless. It takes more work to find them, and it’s harder to engage them in the HIV prevention and addiction services that PRO offers. That’s where a warm cup of cocoa and a snack can make a huge difference!
Members of a “Pleasantville Moms” Facebook group recently banded together to donate several boxes of ready-mix hot cocoa, along with cookies and chips. The PRO team will be able to build trust and more easily engage their clients by offering them a hot drink on a cold day. And the donations keep coming! Thank you to the women who donated these products. A cup of cocoa is a small gesture but makes a big impact on those who may not have a warm place to live. By staying in touch with the PRO team, we improve their connection to healthcare and support services and can work together towards a brighter future.
Pictured: HVCS’ J. Dewey, Director of Public Relations & Resource Enhancement; Edgar Peralta, Project Reach Out Lower Hudson Senior Prevention Specialist; Anzie Roberts, Project Reach Out Lower Hudson Prevention Specialist.
Devan Marano shares her personal story at the Overdose Awareness Day observance in Newburgh.
On Friday, August 31, 2018, Hudson Valley Community Services partnered with Catholic Charities’ TEAM Newburgh to hold a local observance of International Overdose Awareness Day in front of HVCS’ Newburgh office.
International Overdose Awareness Day is an annual global event held on August 31st which aims to raise awareness of overdose and reduce the stigma of a drug-related death. It also acknowledges the grief felt by families and friends remembering those who have died or had a permanent injury as a result of drug overdose. International Overdose Awareness Day spreads the message that the tragedy of overdose death is preventable.
The opioid/heroin addiction crisis has had a profound impact on the Hudson Valley over the past few years. In 2016, 367 residents died from opioid overdoses according to the New York State Heroin and Opioid Task Force, and available data on the first three quarters of 2017 suggests similar totals for last year. The epidemic has had a lasting impact on friends, families and neighborhoods—not to mention those who struggle with addiction. HVCS, other healthcare and social support agencies, law enforcement, and local governments have committed resources to prevent overdose deaths, increase the number of residents who seek help for their addiction disorders, and stem the tide of this epidemic. This event was an opportunity to honor and remember those we have lost to addiction disorders via overdose, and continue to educate the community on available resources.
The Hudson Valley’s International Overdose Awareness Day event featured a forum for personal experience speakers, Narcan trainings, educational opportunities, tributes to those lost to overdose, a social media awareness wall, activities to engage children and youth, and free snacks.
Spectrum News: http://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/hudson-valley/news/2018/08/31/overdose-awareness-day-hudson-valley
Times Herald Record: Story (http://www.recordonline.com/news/20180831/overdose-survivors-impart-lifesaving-training) and slide show (http://www.recordonline.com/photogallery/TH/20180831/PHOTOGALLERY/831009999/PH/1)
As a result of the opioid epidemic, the Surgeon General issued an advisory to emphasize the importance of expanding the awareness and availability of naloxone. Opioid overdose deaths have been on a steady incline in New York State (NYS) and have increased by 180% from 2010 to 2016.1 Knowing how to use naloxone and keeping it within reach can save a life.
Within NYS there are over 2,100 pharmacies that can dispense naloxone with a standing order. Additionally, NYS has implemented the Naloxone Co-Payment Assistance Program, (N-CAP). N-CAP provides co-payment and cost-sharing assistance to people with prescription coverage as part of their health plan to cover co-payments and cost-sharing for naloxone up to $40, providing lower or no out of pocket costs.
Key elements of accessing naloxone at pharmacies include:
We play an important role in addressing this public health crisis. I am asking for your support to save lives from fatal opioid overdoses by encouraging people to carry naloxone. Thank you for the work you do to maintain the health of all New Yorkers.
If a pharmacy you work with is interested in a standing order, or have other questions, please contact: naloxonepharmacy@health.ny.gov.
National Condom Week is usually celebrated the same week as Valentine’s Day in the USA
In the US, February is National Condom Month. Originally started on the campus of the University of California – Berkeley, it has grown into a educational even for high schools, colleges, family planning organizations, AIDS groups, sexually transmitted disease awareness groups, pharmacies and condom manufacturers.
Even though the week has grown, it continues to emphasize the importance of using using humor to help educate. Part of that has been to come up with slogans through the years for the week such as:
Don’t be silly, protect your willy
When in doubt, shroud your spout
It will be sweeter if you wrap your peter
No glove, no love!
While humor is used to help provide education, National Condom Week has become a tool to help educate young adults about serious risks involved with unprotected sex. This includes the risk of catching and spreading sexually transmitted diseases including AIDS as well as helping to prevent unwanted pregnancies.
For more resources, visit NationalCondomWeek.com.
National Condom Week is usually celebrated the same week as Valentine’s Day in the USA
In the US, February is National Condom Month. Originally started on the campus of the University of California – Berkeley, it has grown into a educational even for high schools, colleges, family planning organizations, AIDS groups, sexually transmitted disease awareness groups, pharmacies and condom manufacturers.
Even though the week has grown, it continues to emphasize the importance of using using humor to help educate. Part of that has been to come up with slogans through the years for the week such as:
Don’t be silly, protect your willy
When in doubt, shroud your spout
It will be sweeter if you wrap your peter
No glove, no love!
While humor is used to help provide education, National Condom Week has become a tool to help educate young adults about serious risks involved with unprotected sex. This includes the risk of catching and spreading sexually transmitted diseases including AIDS as well as helping to prevent unwanted pregnancies.
For more resources, visit NationalCondomWeek.com.
Narcan Training and Community AWARENESS with Parents, High School Students and Adolescents sharing their experiences, hope and their peer to peer program that helps them help others.
Narcan (naloxone) is an opioid antagonist and is used for the complete or partial reversal of opioid overdose, including respiratory depression. It is also used for diagnosis of suspected or known acute opioid overdose and also for blood pressure support in septic shock. Free Narcan Kits will be given after the training.
Sponsored by New Paltz High School, Awareness Inc. and Hudson Valley Community Services.
RSVP Required To Reserve A Space: ucawarenessprogram@gmail.c
Snow Date: February 8, 2018
Watch Spectrum News’ video interview with our J. Dewey here.
From the article:
“Ending the HIV epidemic across the state is a collaborative effort, and recent data statewide and in the Hudson Valley indicates that progess is being made.
“The work in order to be responsive as you saw in the data is a complement of our partnerships between city between state between elected officials and our community stakeholders,” said Johanne Morne, director of the New York State Department of Health AIDS Institute.
The department of health held a summit on Wednesday in Albany to connect those involved in combating the epidemic with new information and resources. Morne says that working with communities and identifying needs, as well as understanding social and structural challenges and barriers for different communities, is a major part of their work.
“It’s our responsibility, as I talked about, for us to look for those opportunities not only to provide access to care, but to be sure we create environments that are welcoming and responsive to the people who most need access to prevention and healthcare support,” said Morne.
In the Hudson Valley, providing that access to care falls to many organizations, including Hudson Valley Community Services. In the mid-Hudson region, the trends for new HIV infections are hopeful.
“The news for HIV infections in the Hudson Valley is that the rate of infection is finally going down,” said J. Dewey, public relations & resource enhancement director for Hudson Valley Community Services.”
Thanks to reporter Orie Givens for reaching out to us.